


Give Thanks for Our Shadows

by winterfool



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-24
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2019-03-23 10:00:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13785114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winterfool/pseuds/winterfool
Summary: Jester wakes Fjord up to thank him for saving her in the mines. (Spoilers for Episode 7).





	Give Thanks for Our Shadows

Fjord wakes to a hand gently shaking his shoulder, and a repeated whisper of, “Fjord. _Fjord_.”

Letting out a low breath, he rolls over and blearily blinks until the room comes into focus. The only light is pale moonlight trickling in around the edges of the shutters, but it’s more than enough for him to see by. Jester is kneeling beside him, leaned down to whisper into his ear. Her hair is in sleep-mussed tangles around her ears, her lavender eyes almost luminous in the darkness. Sudden concern pulls him fully awake.

“Jester? Is everything okay?” He props himself up on one elbow, keeping his voice low so as not to wake the others; they are all crowded into the one room again, there still not being enough room in Alfield of all those left homeless in the wake of the gnoll attack – and even less with the survivors they brought back from the mines.

(Out of the corner of his eye he can see that Molly and Beau have ended up with their legs tangled together, something that will no doubt horrify them when they wake up and which they will determinedly pretend never happened. Caleb retreated to a corner earlier, still quiet in the wake of what had happened in the manticore’s lair, and Nott has curled up beside him, holding his hand while they sleep.)

“Yes,” Jester nods, sitting back a little now that he’s awake. “It’s just, in the mines, you know, you saved my life, _again_ , and I didn’t say thank you. So I’m saying it now, okay? Thank you for saving me, Fjord.”

A warmth fills his chest as his shoulders relax, and a soft smile curls the corners of his mouth. “You’re welcome, Jester.”

He had been afraid when she was knocked unconscious during their fight with the serpent back in Trostenwald, the first time either of them had been seriously hurt since they had met, but that was nothing compared to the sheer terror that had swamped him when she fell today and he had been trapped in his own body, unable to do anything.

If he closed his eyes now he could still see the black veins crawling up her neck and her sudden, awful stillness – no hint of the boundless energy she seemed to have every hour of the day, even in sleep. His first instinct had been to run to her but he couldn’t move, couldn’t even twist and writhe to fight off his bonds, or call out her name. He just had to watch, a scream unable to escape from his throat, feeling a cold chill down his spine.

The strength of his reaction surprises him, and he doesn’t have words to explain it. All he knows is he never wants to see Jester hurt like that again.

“You’ve save me a couple time as well, now,” he says. “I should thank you, too.”

“Technically that’s true, technically.” Her face splits into the wide grin he’d been hoping for. “But, I mean, that’s what I’m supposed to do right? I’m the cleric, I heal you guys. I mean, I _could_ be kicking more ass, you know, but then who would save the rest of you guys?”

Fjord nods, knowing that if she’s back to talking a mile a minute then she’s going to be just fine. “That’s true.”

“But I feel bad that you’ve had to use two potions on me, now.”

“Don’t be. That’s what they’re for.”

“I suppose so.”

Shifting a little, Fjord reaches out a hand and then hesitates, not sure what he’s reaching out to do. After a moment he settles on briefly taking her hand.

“I’m just glad I had ‘em with me both times. You gave me quite a scare, darlin’.”

The endearment slips out without any real intent on his part, just feeling entirely natural when he talks to Jester. If she thinks anything of it, it doesn’t show on her face. She just looks at him for a moment, her smile smaller again but somehow sweeter.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

She leans forward, so their noses are almost touching. He can feel the warmth of her breath on his face, and smell the faintly sugary scent that seems to permanently cling to her – the result, he supposes, of eating as many doughnuts and pastries as she does. It’s not unpleasant. He’s grown fond of it in the time they’ve spent together.

“Can I tell you something?” she whispers. He nods. “I was kinda scared, too.”

His heart gives a kind of twist in his chest. “You were?”

“That was not a fun experience.”

“No, I don’t suppose it would be,” he murmurs.

“I’m glad I have you to watch out for me, though.”

He squeezes her hand. “Me, too.”

The corners of her eyes crinkle up a little with delight, and Fjord can’t help but think about how despite all her chaotic trickery and penchant for mischief and mayhem, she’s still somehow so utterly _genuine_ and good. He feels like he’s known her for years, not just a few weeks.

He wants to know her for years.

Squeezing his hand back, she smiles again. “Alright, I will let you get back to sleep now. Sorry for waking you.”

“You can wake me anytime. I don’t mind.”

It was the truth, but not just because he wants to be there if Jester needs him. Shadows and images blur together in Fjord’s dreams, glimpses of a yellow eye and swirls of dark water that surround him, crashing into him, choking him … he’s not at all sorry to be woken from them.

Perhaps Jester sees something of those shadows in his eyes as he lies back down, because she suddenly stops moving away and instead inches closer, settling herself down beside him and resting her head on his chest, angling her neck slightly so her horns don’t get in the way. Her warmth against him is comforting, and slowly Fjord lets his arm curl around her.  

“Hey, Fjord?” she whispers.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for asking me to come with you, back in Port Damali.”

He smiles. “Thanks for sayin’ yes.”

“It was a good decision.”

“I think so.”

She doesn’t say anything else, and it’s not long until her breathing deepens, evens out, and he knows she’s asleep. They’re close enough that he can feel the steady beat of her heart, and he feels a surge of gladness as strong as the earlier fear that she is here beside him, alive and well. It’s only been a few weeks, but he doesn’t know what he would have done if he hadn’t been able to save her.

He falls asleep with his arms still around her, a smile on his face, and for the rest of the night doesn’t dream of the sea or shadowed monsters – but of blue hair and a bright laugh that makes him feel at home, and knows nothing else until he wakes to find Nott standing over them with a puzzled expression, saying, “So you two _are_ an item?”

**Author's Note:**

> Cross posted on [Tumblr](http://lavellenchanted.tumblr.com/post/171215950797/give-thanks-for-our-shadows)


End file.
